This invention relates to personal health monitors and more particularly to improvements for a personal health monitor for the storage of cables.
A personal health monitor is a device used to measure and record one or more clinical parameters of a patient for later transmission to the patient's physician or other health care provider. The personal health monitor may be used in a hospital or clinical setting as an adjunct to existing care. However, the personal health monitor may also be used by the patient himself in his own home. When used by a patient in his own home, the patient operates the personal health monitor to record certain of his own clinical parameters for subsequent transmission by the personal health monitor to the patient's physician or other health care provider. The personal health monitor, therefore, may be used by the patient who has a condition requiring monitoring of one or more clinical parameters but who otherwise does not require the level of care such as provided by a hospital. In such a circumstance, the personal health monitor provides potential savings in medical costs involved with a hospital stay. A personal health monitor of the type considered herein is described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,625.
The personal health monitor may include one or more test components, or sensors, a programmable computer such a general purpose personal computer, and an interface connecting the sensors with the personal computer. In the above mentioned patent, the prograammable computer is a laptop personal computer having a display screen, keyboard, CPU (central processing unit), disk drive, and a means for connecting to the sensor interface to exchange data, such as by a port, bus, interface card, or other means.
A program on the computer affords an interactive, user-friendly way for the patient to interact with the personal health monitor to measure one or more clinical parameters. For purposes of this application, clinical parameters include physiological parameters, (such as vital signs like ECG, blood pressure, temperature, and weight), medication compliance and volunteered patient replies. The program can be specifically tailored to the patient's individual needs.
With the sensors a patient can measure one or more specific physiological parameters. The interface connects to the sensors and converts the signals from the sensors for storage as data by the personal computer. The personal computer can later transmit the data for review by the patient's physician or other health care provider.
In accordance with the testing regime established by the patient's physician, the personal health monitor may be used on a specific schedule to conduct sessions to measure certain of the patient's clinical parameters following instructions provided by the personal health monitor. In the embodiment described in the above referenced patent, the personal health monitor includes a personal computer with a display screen portion that can provide instructions for conducting a session in which clinical parameters are determined. For example, the program on the personal computer can provide instructions for measuring a patient's blood pressure or ECG. In addition, the personal health monitor can also present the patient with a series of questions about his health and prompt the patient for responses. For example, the patient can be asked to volunteer replies in response to a structured series of questions (e.g., "Do you have a fever?" followed by "If so, is your fever continuous or intermittent?"). The personal health monitor can be programmed to sound a reminder to initiate a testing session and record whether the patient adheres to the established schedule.
The personal health monitor can be used to give the patient instructions for taking medicines and provide the patient with reminders to take medications. Moreover, the personal health monitor can allow a physician to readily modify a medication schedule. For example, based upon the physiological parameters gathered by the personal health monitor and reviewed by a patient's physician, the physician may decide to alter the medication.
As described in the above referenced patent, the personal health monitor may include means for data storage so that the clinical parameters measured can be stored as data. The personal computer may include a modem so that the data can be transmitted to a central station. The data transmission can be done automatically by a program on the personal computer. The physician or other health care provider can then obtain the information from the central station either by calling, downloading or other means of communication. Alternately, a health care provider may be able to access the personal health monitor directly.
An advantage of the personal health monitor is that a high level of patient surveillance can be provided, even with the patient outside of a hospital or other expensive facility. Thus, the personal health monitor has the capability of lowering health care costs while at the same time maintaining or even improving the level of patient surveillance. Additional benefits include being able to return a patient to his home environment sooner and also providing a means for involving the patient in his own health program.
In order to make the advantages of the personal health monitor available to a wide variety of patients undergoing different types of medical supervision and having varying levels of familiarity with diagnostic equipment, it is important to provide a user-friendly interface that is easy to use. Instructions provided on the display screen portion of the personal health monitor should be easy to understand and the test equipment should not be intimidating. Moreover, the equipment used in the testing of the physiological parameters should be easy to store when not in use yet easy to set up and use by the patient for a session of testing.
Typically, the devices used to test the physiological parameters are connected to the interface by cables or leads. A patient may be intimidated or confused when confronted by a maze of cables attached to a unfamiliar device. The patient may become especially confused if several of the cables are similar in appearance.
As an example, in a session with a personal health monitor in which a patient's ECG is taken, three cables are affixed to a patient's body: one lead on the inside of each arm and one lead on the patient's leg. The cables are affixed to a patient's body by means of disposable, conductive self-adhesive pads. The other ends of the ECG cables terminate in a plug that can be inserted in a jack connected to the interface to the computer. The cables must be of a sufficient length so that they can reach to a patient that may be seated or standing in front of the monitor. Typically, each lead can be as long as four feet. After testing and when not in use the cables should be stored for the next session. It can present a problem for the patient if the cables become tangled or mixed up. In such an vent, the patient may be discouraged from using the personal health monitor. Further, if the cables become tangled or mixed, they can become damaged or switched thus preventing the personal health monitor from acquiring valid data and possibly requiring a service call.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a user-friendly, efficient and neat means for storage for sensor cables in a personal health monitor.
It is another object of the present invention to prevent entanglement of sensor cables in a personal health monitor.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide neat and easy-to-use storage for sensor cables in a personal health monitor.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-use storage for sensors cables in a personal health monitor that will be used repeatedly or periodically in sessions with a patient.
Another object of the present invention is to provide in a personal health monitor easy-to-understand identification for a multiplicity of sensor cables.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide in a personal health monitor easy-to-understand storage and identification for a multiplicity of ECG cables.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide for storage of ECG cables in a personal health monitor when not in use.
A further object of the present invention is to provide in a personal health monitor for storage and use of ECG cables and to prevent entanglement of ECG cables when in use especially where sufficient lengths of ECG cables must be provided to accommodate in home use.
A yet further object of the present invention is, in a personal health monitor that includes sensors for taking an ECG, to provide for securing the cables for neat and efficient storage utilizing existing fasteners on the cables.